Developer proposes switch to condos from rentals at Weston Hills Country Club

Rendering of Weston Hills Country Club redevelopment and Lon Tabatchnick

Developer Lon Tabatchnick is now proposing building condos at the Weston Hills Country Club instead of rental apartments, after fierce opposition from many Weston residents.

Tabatchnick, the developer of the Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort, told The Real Deal that he has revised the project’s site plan to include 250 condominium units instead of 274 rental apartments.

“We got the message,” said Tabatchnick, who has a contract to purchase the country club property at 18300 Country Club Way in Weston. “As we were going through the approval process with the city, we recognized some of the headwinds with the community.”

Tabatchnick also said he now sees a bigger market in Weston for condos than for rental apartments: “I had people who were against the [rental] project who said, ‘Well, if you build luxury condos, I could support it — and by the way, can I buy one?’ … There really is no product in Weston to accommodate them.”

He said the unit prices at the condo development, called the Lodge at Weston Hills, would start in the low $300,000s. The units would have one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans ranging in size from 751 square feet to 1,810 square feet.

The amenity package for the Lodge at Weston Hills would include a concierge and an activities director plus a gym, club room, kitchen studio, heated pool, dog park and barbecue area. The condo development also would have covered parking and electric car-charging stations.

The developer said he expects the condo construction project to cost more than $70 million and the project’s sellout revenues to total $110 million.

Tabatchnick is sticking with his original plan to spend another $10 million to upgrade the two 18-hole golf courses and the 50,000-square-foot clubhouse at the Weston Hills Country Club.

In October, the Weston City Commission expects to consider Tabatchnick’s revised site plan for the Weston Hills Country Club development and a rezoning application that would permit residential construction on about 11 acres of the country club property, which spans almost 320 acres.

But in late spring, people opposed to the project – some wearing red T-shirts with “No Rezoning” printed on them – already had started appearing before the city commission to speak publicly against rental apartment development on the grounds of the country club.

A local petition drive to stop the rental apartment project had gathered 2,600 signatures from Weston residents by early July.